Leading up to today’s Nintendo Direct, Nintendo had the opportunity to do the funniest
possible thing. And for once in the history of that phrase, they did just that. Because Nintendo
is spinning the block on one of the most infamous consoles of all time: The Virtual Boy.

Wanna blow your eyes out before old age gets the chance to do it? Well, Nintendo just gave you the tools. For the rest of this article, imagine me in a Jay Kay hat sliding around the room. We’ll call this song “Virtual Hilarity.”

Nintendo Just Resurrected the Virtual Boy for the Switch Era. Seriously.

If you aren’t old enough to remember, the original Virtual Boy, released in 1995, was Nintendo’s first attempt at 3D gaming. If you enjoyed your 3DS (and the awesome Zelda 3D-Makes), you have this console to thank.

But those who experienced the Virtual Boy firsthand have horror stories for you. That ugly red tint, the headaches, and eye strain… it was rough.

It’s not surprising that the console didn’t last long at all. It was discontinued in the US in August 1996. So, of course, instead of the number of things Nintendo could have done in this Direct, spinning the block on the Virtual Boy was what they chose.

Because any time you have the chance to revive a console that only lasted a year because it was physically uncomfortable, you have to do it. Even worse, Nintendo is releasing a peripheral for it that is a replica of the original console. Yes, a peripheral. Because what I haven’t mentioned yet is that the Virtual Boy is accessible only via Nintendo Switch Online.

That’s right. You can pay $100 to have a lookalike console that can only be used on an online, subscription-based service. Or $25 for the cardboard version and the same parameters. It’s almost like they recognized mid-setup that charging people a whole Benjamin Franklin for this was ridiculous.

I’m not the only one laughing at this, right?